In real estate and other fields, it is useful to have a noticeable sign in the front yard for informing the public that that property or product stored at that location is available for purchase. Today, real estate yard signs are manufactured from 4×4 inch sections of lumber joined to form a vertical post and horizontal top arm. In addition, there are real estate signs manufactured using 4×4 inch section of PVC plastic joined to form a vertical post and horizontal post which require much time and effort, many components in order to assemble, disassemble, and transport.
Typically, signs with the real estate company's name and listing agent swing from two hooks positioned on a ring or hook secured to the bottom of that horizontal arm. “Open House”, “Sale Pending” or other information may be placed atop the arm.
Current 4×4 inch lumber posts are rather heavy and bulky to transport, especially when pre-connected (or otherwise joined into one assembly). Moreover, lumber posts are required to be painted constantly and cannot be transported by compact vehicle for installation and removal by an agent. Professional installers are usually contracted to perform such on site installations and removals.
More recently, alternate post signs have been manufactured from lighter gauge metal tubing and plastic (e.g., PVC), often in the cross-sectional shape of a square. Such signposts have been installed by digging and setting the vertical post in place, or by driving stakes through a holding bracket/tube onto which is mounted the vertical post component.
These alternate sign posts manufactured from plastic PVC require meticulous assembly, sometimes requiring multiple individuals working together in order to assemble, of their respective components from the stake installation, the connectivity of the vertical post to the horizontal arm, and installation of small fastening components in order to assemble the real estate advertising sign onto the horizontal arm. Moreover, upon disassembly, it's equally frustrating for the user(s) to uninstall the connection between the vertical post component and the horizontal arm, remove the stake from the ground, and uninstall small components required for secure assembly of the real estate sign post, fit all these components into an external transport mechanism for transpiration within a vehicle, and later installation at a second destination.
In some instances, these plastic PVC real estate sign posts are shared between real estate agents within a brokerage firm, and in most cases, the installation instructions are missing, and it makes installation and disassembly more frustrating than one would imagine because all the major pieces are separated and the fasteners are sometimes missing, sometimes due to absentmindedness or lack of reliable transport mechanism used by the previous user. In some cases, these plastic real estate sign posts utilize a proprietary locking mechanism to hold the vertical post component with the horizontal arm, which if is missing, results in inability to use the sign post altogether.
A need therefore exists for a lightweight real estate sign post which can be assembled quickly and easily without much written instructions that can easily be disassembled and securely transported by compact vehicle for later usage.